Volet végétal from Nicolas Barreau on Vimeo.

If you live in a big city or even a megacity, in high apartement buildings, you are certainly aware, that these cities never have enough public green spaces. But there is help. If you need a green view to lift up your mood, or you just want to grow some tomatoes, than you will find the idea in the video above interesting. The Paris based designers Barre & Charbonnet have build a small garden-like construction, that you could use either way, inside or outside the rooms. The idea is to create a “micro-habitat” and to “reinterprete the hanging gardens”, the designers say on their homepage.  Besides: You will have always a green horizon.

We wanted to share an interesting article we found on the Wall Street Journal today about the costs of going green. Across Europe, towns and cities are investing in sustainable architecture – buildings that run on clean energy, like solar or wind power.

The article says even though we might assume eco-friendly buildings will save on energy bills and increase property values, that hasn’t actually been proven yet. The costs of constructing green buildings is in itself quite expensive, and it’s too soon to back up the claim that the investment pays off in the end.

So is Europe moving too fast with its boom in green construction? Or will lower utility bills and higher property value will make up for the costs quickly? Let us know what you think…